Fuel mileage for 1981 GS650

[Anonymous]

I'm currently test driving a 1981 GS650 belonging to a cousin who just had a baby. Gaining a baby will lose him his motorcycle, which I hope will be my gain.
I filled the tank then took off for some spirited cruising the other day, parked Suzi in my garage, went out the next morning and found a small puddle (of gas) on the floor. I was kind of worried about her wetting the bed, but she hasn't done it again since then. But, 150km after filling the tank, I suddenly ran out of gas! (the gas gauge doesn't work and I'm assuming there's no easy fix for that). The reserve tank was also dry, and I learned that the farmers in my neighbourhood a) are quite friendly fellows, and b) have big dogs protecting their properties...
My question is this: How many kilomters (or miles for you backward people) can I expect to get on a tank here? Unfortunately, my cousin is the third owner and never got an owner's manual when he purchased the machine. I love doing long-distance touring on bikes (toured the Himalayas last year on my Royal Enfield, which was AMAZING) but am worried about Suzi's seeming lack of range.
As an aside, I love that there's an entire community here dedicated to the GS. It seems like a really good bike...

Thanks for any words,

James :twisted:

[Anonymous]

Gas Mileage

Hi there Hip,

I have a 1982 GS650E, after making the carbs right and getting a clean gas tank I now get about 45 mpg (yea I'm a backwards type). I think with more tweeking I may push it to 50mpg, but I am happy with my 45.

I fill up every 100 miles or so. I have gone as long as 120 miles, but never pushed it beyond that.

Good luck and glad to see another 650 on the forum!

[Anonymous]

I have gotten 53 mpg on my 750e on a couple of occasions..I do not ride EASY

[focus frenzy]

BACKWARDS!!, during comuting to and from work I average 17.2km per liter.
and on a recent brisk (a little over the speed limit)ride I got 18.5 km per liter from my 1000g.
and I average around 325km before having to go to reserve.

for us backwards people to under stand, my comuting average is= 40mpg.
I got 43mpg on the road trip, and In the daily comute I usaly get around 200miles out of the tank before switching to reserve, on my 61 cu. inch gs1000g. 8)

[Anonymous]

My 650 Katana is a US spec import, standard everything. I checked carefully when I first got it and it returned 53 mpg. It's since had a 4-1 exhaust, jet and air screw adjustments (not to mention 30,000 miles under its wheels) but it's still giving nearly 50 mpg. Range is over 200 miles per tankful, I can't remember exactly, but the L, G and Katana models will have different size tanks anyway. I dunno which you have but I don't think you'll be disappointed with it.

Clymer do an excellent manual for the Suzuki 650's.

[Anonymous]

My '82 650L gets between 40-45MPG (I like being backwards) depending on the type of driving. In the city (Nashville, TN) it is + or - 40, out on the twisties it is + or - 45. I will have to agree with the above posts, I do not go further than 100 miles without filling up.

[Anonymous]

I just bought my '81 GS650GL earlier this summer and just put my first tank of fuel through it. It was all start and stop city driving and I got 38 mpg. I have the small 12L (2.7 galC) tank that comes with the L model. I only put on 106km before I filled up and it didn't even take 8 litres. Although I could have gone another 50 km or so with the remaining fuel, that isn't great range for touring. Which is okay for me beacause I bought the bike to commute to work and back anyway.
I haven't touched the carbs since I bought it. I'm sure they could use a cleaning and re-sync.
I'm assuming the mileage would be in the 40's somewhere when properly tuned.